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| Just as the shamrock is associated with
St. Patrick so is the small cross made of rushes linked to St. Brigid.
Second only to St. Patrick , Brigid is renowned among Irish saints.
It has often been said that Brigid was born in Faughart Co. Louth. This is probably because she belonged to a clan called the Fothartha Airbreach. Her father was a nobleman and her mother Brocessa was a slave. There was a group of these Fothartha in the Croghan area at the time of Brigid's birth. It is very unlikely that she would have made the long journey from Faughart to Croghan to receive her veil especially in those days. Her father, Dubhtach was a pagan chief.Brigid was a slave and did all the work about the house. She was noted for her kindness and one story tells how she gave away her father's sword to a poor beggar. She was also kind to animals. Brigid became a nun at Croghan Hill. There she and seven companions received the veil from Bishop MacCaille who lived on the hill. The 8th century monk Cogitosus recorded that her parents wanted her to get married but she wanted to offer herself as a chaste virgin to God. "She therefore placed herself under the care of the very hplyBishop MacCaille of happy memory." Brigid selected the beatitude "blessed are the merciful" as the one she wished to excel in. This was in the year 467 A.D. Her first convent was probably in Westmeath near the Hill of Uisneach. Her most famous convent was in Kildare or Cill Dara, the Church of the Oak. The cells of the nuns were built around a great oak tree. She died in Kildare but her bones now rest with St. Patrick and Colmcille at Downpatrick. BY:Niamh Lynch
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